Lockdown 2.0, Day 9

428 cases overnight. That's alarming. Really not good news. The next few days will be an indicator I guess of whether the lockdown measures are starting to have an impact. It's really quite scary.

I'm pleased though that despite the bad news I stayed in a good mood all day (I'm tired now and ready for bed - I'm in the middle of making yoghurt though so want to wait up until that's ready to put in the jar. Everything else is done, so I can write here for a while then I guess I'll read my book until the yoghurt is ready).

I woke up a bit before 6 after sleeping all night (from 11.30. That's later than I'd normally go but the football was in Perth last night so finished late, and Caitlin was lying in bed chatting and laughing with me while Tony watched the end of the game and the press conferences etc. Amelie joined us for a while and by the time the girls headed off it was quite late). I love being up early and I'm usually in a really good mood if I get an early start to the day. Liam was still awake then so we had a good chat about his game and the animals and other stuff and had breakfast together. I pottered around all morning, chatted to my mum, helped Amelie find fabric for some sewing she's doing, helped Caitlin get the lego out (she was inspired by watching the Try Guys doing a lego challenge on YouTube), ticked some things off my to do list (admin type stuff (including ringing to see if Amelie's phone is ready - it might be back by Tuesday. Or Thursday. Next week.)). In the afternoon I did some work on my creativity course, then the girls and I walked to the end of Houghtons Lane and back. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for a walk - everywhere I looked was so beautiful. We talked to some cows, saw wattle trees in a whole range of stages of blooming, admired our favourite gum tree, looked at reflections in puddles of water - it was fantastic. Tony came and picked Amelie up when she got tired and Caitlin and I walked the rest of the way home. She had some food and I re-dressed her burn (it's mainly looking good, except for her middle finger, it's still very red and sore) then took her to work. I then took myself on a date - I bought some boiled lollies from the new lolly shop in Yarra Glen, bought a spearmint hot chocolate (SO delicious) from the ice cream place, then drove down to the showgrounds and found a place to park near the river. I hopped out and took a few photos, then sat in the car and read my book until it got too dark to see easily, so I played on my phone for a while. I picked up pizza on the way home and felt very relaxed and recharged - but really really cold! I had a lovely hot shower then spent the evening tidying things up and making yoghurt, talking to a friend and rescuing a very large huntsman spider from Liam's room.

Hopeful for a drop in numbers tomorrow and hoping that people really start to do the right thing and stay home as much as possible.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 3

I realised this morning that I had been thinking that I needed to be productive this lockdown. Last time I let myself relax and take things easy last time, didn't push myself, but this time I should use the time efficiently and get a heap of things done. I was already starting to feel the pressure of that and luckily I was able to have a rethink.

There are some things I'd like to achieve over the next 6 weeks - writing every day, staying fit, selling some photos, sorting out some more areas of the house - and these were things I was planning to do anyway, before the lockdown was announced. It's important though that I take care of myself and help the kids get through this as emotionally healthily as they can. If that's all I manage over the next couple of months, that's ok. If I get more done, that's great. I really want to take each day one at a time, spend time doing things that I love, play with the kids, play the piano, go for walks - they are my priority. I also find that if I do focus on those things, I become more productive overall anyway.

I ended up having a fairly relaxing, though busy, day. Lots of time in the kitchen - I made yoghurt, helped Caitlin with making kombucha, made chicken stock, started some lemon cordial, and made lemon chicken for dinner. In between there was time outside, piano playing, a long walk in Yarra Glen after dropping Caitlin at work - the river is really high at the moment, and I walked along the new boardwalk next it, which I hadn't done before. The wattle trees are just starting to bloom, it was really pretty.

I'm heading off to bed soon to read my book, looking forward to another day at home tomorrow to potter around and do whatever springs to mind.